Superpower Corrupts
by enigma939
Summary: One shot. Robin asks Batman if he ever wished he had superpowers to make his job easier? Batman replies in the negative...


**Superpower Corrupts**

**A/N: **This story is basically my interpretation of Batman's attitude towards metahumans and why he has never yearned for superhuman abilities or asked for help from his superpowered colleagues in cleaning up Gotham, instead doing his best to keep them out of _his _city.

Batman, Robin and all the other characters mentioned in this fic are properties of DC Comics.

Any superhero worth his costume knew that Gotham City was 'off-limits' to metahumans. It was the 'Batman's turf' and no one dared cross the legendary Dark Knight of Gotham City, no matter what the reason. If there was a problem in Gotham, Batman and his sidekicks would deal with it.

But even the Batman couldn't handle everything. He might have virtually scared much of the underworld into non-existence and was as adept at returning the Joker to Arkham Asylum after every rampage of the 'killer clown' as ever, but even _he_, for all his skills and resources, could not fend of a full-scale invasion by a supervillian army!

Gotham wasn't usually such a hot-spot for large-scale supervillian activity. Metropolis or Central City seemed like better bets. But the undeniable fact was that the Secret Society _had _chosen to strike Gotham that night. And so, Batman had been obliged to swallow his pride and call in outside help…

Batman and Robin certainly weren't spectators in the fight that followed. In their own small capacity they did their best to fend of the attackers who had chosen to invade their city. Batman leapt across rooftops, hurling explosive batarangs at Clayface, while Robin set his eyes on disarming and taking down Captain Cold. But in the skies and on the streets, far more epic and spectacular battles were in progress…

Hawkgirl swooped down from the sky, her wings majestically outstretched, her mace sizzling with energy as she struck Giganta repeatedly and relentlessly. Green Lantern hovered around as well, dodging beams of yellow energy hurled at him by his arch-nemesis Sinestro, and responding with his own bursts of emerald force. The Flash raced around the streets in a scarlet blur, confusing and disorienting Shade, before snatching his cane and then rapidly punching the villain into submission. Red Tornado was battling his fellow android, Amazo, with considerable success, alongside Power Girl. And the greatest among all heroes, Superman, was battling none less than his own personal enemy, Lex Luthor, who was armoured in the sophisticated green battlesuit forged from salvaged alien technology, and firing beams of red sun radiation which the Man of Steel dodged with unerring skill. He was not alone however for the Martian Manhunter, invisible to the naked eye at present, was also secretly present in the sky, doing his best to aid his friend from his hidden vantage point.

Villain after villain was defeated in a spectacular show of courage, strength and sheer power, the like of which had never been witnessed upon the earth before the fabled age of heroes had begun. In time, the vanquished worshippers of crime and injustice lay on the streets and rooftops, subdued and unconscious, awaiting captivity at the hands of the authorities. Once again, justice had been served.

"Well, that was fun", Flash admitted.

"Amazo was _too _easy", Power Girl complained. "These people are just not much of a challenge anymore".

"You guys were great! Really! You'll were bloody brilliant!" Robin exclaimed excitedly

"Why, thank you Robin", Superman replied kindly. "Though you didn't do too badly yourself".

"Yeah but the way you wrecked Luthor's armour…and then burnt Poison Ivy's weeds with your heat vision was totally awesome!" Robin exclaimed again.

"Get used to it kid. We're the big League", Green Lantern said dryly.

All the assembled heroes on the rooftop suddenly turned their attention towards Batman, who was standing a short distance away, in absolute silence, surveying the damage which had been caused to the city by the battle. Thus far, not a word of appreciation had come from the Caped Crusader himself. Not that they expected much from _him _but still…

"You did well", he said in his usual cold voice. "All of you".

"Well thanks a lot Batman. But next time you might try calling us maybe an hour or two earlier. It would save a lot of trouble. You know…the cost of commuting these days…", the Flash commented. The other heroes rolled their eyes at this wisecrack.

Ten minutes later, all of them had departed from the scene leaving behind only Gotham's Dynamic Duo on the rooftop. Robin turned towards his mentor, who was still maintaining his usual brooding silence. "Don't you think they're awesome?" he asked.

Batman remained silent for a few moments. Robin, impatient of his mentor's apathy, opened his mouth to speak again, but Batman, at that very moment, replied, "Well…some of them are…_professional _enough. Even Wally, despite his unnecessary attempts at humor".

"Professional? Man, they don't need to be 'professional' Bruce. They're goddamn superheroes! They've got superpowers! It must be really cool to have them. You know, to fly through the air like Superman does, dodging lasers and what-not. Or letting bullets bounce of your chest. Or maybe turn invisible like the Martian Manhunter. And there's that cool mace of Hawkgirl's and…", Robin started to say, but Batman abruptly cleared his throat and curtly said, "Have you quite finished, Robin?"

"Oh come on, Bruce!" Robin said, somewhat irritated with his brooding mentor by this point. "Don't you agree that it must be cool to have superpowers? You've worked with some of these guys for years! Haven't you ever wished you had powers like they did? Wouldn't it make life a lot easier for you?"

On hearing this, Batman froze, turned towards Robin and stared at his sidekick strangely for a few moments. Robin started to wonder whether he had offended Batman in any way. To his surprise however, Batman replied in a calm tone, somewhat softer than the cold monotone he usually employed while behind the cowl, "No. I've never wanted to have powers. I've never wanted to be superhuman".

Robin stared at Batman for a few seconds. Looking at Batman's face he realized it was actually not his mentor Batman, but his father figure Bruce Wayne who had just spoken to him.

"But why, Bruce?" Robin asked. "Surely, it would make your job easier".

"Yes, it certainly would make my job easier. _Too_ easy in fact. And therein lies the problem", Batman said solemnly.

Batman sighed and walked to the edge of the rooftop, staring out at the vast expanse of the city he'd sworn years ago to defend with his entire heart and soul.

"Look Tim, I don't expect you to understand this easily, but its important for you to at least _try _to understand, and important for me to make an attempt to explain this to you", he paused, and then added, "Power gives you the potential to do great things…but it also corrupts. Too much power in the hands of one individual invariably creates a dangerous situation for society at large. We see it all the time with dictators and military rulers. Even in a democracy, we see politicians and bureaucrats misusing their powers. And so far we're talking about the power of _authority_. But now, let us consider the kind of power you just mentioned now. Sheer, raw power, granted by forces, or in some cases advanced technology undreamt of by mankind. The power to lift mountains, whole continents…the power to break the sound barrier, or to invade minds or see through walls or even _walk_ through them. Such near limitless power is enough to make any man or woman feel that he or she is above everyone else…such power is enough to make anyone feel like a God…which leads to them becoming tyrants. You understand me?"

"Yeah, kind of. But what about Superman. He's pretty much a God, like you said. And no one thinks _he's _corrupted by power. I mean, he hasn't taken over the world yet, has he?" Robin exclaimed.

"Clark is somewhat of an exceptional case. It's a testament to his character that he hasn't been corrupted by his power and _tempted _to take the easy way out in solving the world's problems. Besides, Clark's mission is different from ours, Tim. His mission is to _inspire _the world with his presence and his actions…not to control it. He's the mascot of the never-ending battle for truth and justice…he's there to cheer humanity, to guide them and to catch them when they fall. That's what he does. That's what they all do. But people like you, me, Dick, Helena…maybe even Dinah and Ollie…we're _different _from them. Our missions our different. We're not here to inspire the world. We're here to try our level best to _change _it. Inspiring the world and cleaning up a city are totally different things and require totally different approaches. And the approach we use is completely incompatible with the responsible and selfless use of superhuman abilities".

"Okay you've got to explain _that _one to me!" Robin said.

"Let me put it plainly. If you faced the Joker one night after he'd killed dozens of people and you had Hawkgirl's mace, wouldn't you be tempted to slam the mace into his head again and again, if only for the personal satisfaction of doing 'something right'?" Batman asked his ward.

"Um…well…" Robin stammered and hesitated, then stopped abruptly. "Exactly", Batman said. "And I wouldn't hesitate to do that either; probably. And what if we had Superman's senses? Or J'onn J'onzz telepathy? Would we be able to resist the temptation to spy on the entire city, in hopes of 'preventing' crimes even as they were being planned? In hopes of rooting out the 'rotten elements' in the city by prying into the lives and intimate actions of millions of people? And if we could enter people's minds, what would stop us from altering them…eliminating criminality itself with our thoughts…imposing our own views upon people. When would it stop? Would there ever be a limit to what we could accomplish? To the kind of decisions we could take? Do we have the right to play God?!"

"Hmm. You do seem to have a point there, Bruce", Robin said contemplatively as he turned his gaze from his mentor towards the skyline of the city he'd chosen to protect alongside its Dark Knight protector. In his mind's eye, he imagined Batman flying around the city, his face set in grim determination, vaporizing the Joker, Scarecrow and Penguin among others with his heat vision, while terrified onlookers gasped in mortal terror…and he started to get a vague inkling of what Bruce was talking about…

"Believe me Tim", Batman said, his words breaking his young sidekick out of his silent contemplations, "Many times I've had sleepless nights about what would happen if any of our superpowered friends deviated from the straight and narrow path…the ill-defined 'rules' they've laid down for themselves. Many times I've had nightmares about that kind of power falling into the wrong hands. It's why I've done my level best to keep metahumans out of Gotham, except for emergencies like what happened tonight. Having people like Superman swooping around upsets the balance of power, blurs the thin line between law enforcement and totalitarianism. Its why, for the most part, they stick to what _they_ do and we stick to what _we _do. We can help them in _their _mission to whatever limited extent we can. It's why I'm in the League and you're in the Titans. But we can't allow them to help _us _in _our _mission. And I'm sure you understand _why _now" He paused and added, "I chose to immortalize myself as a bat; to strike terror into the heart and minds of criminals. I know I've been successful, effective, maybe _too _effective…and occasionally I'm terrified at the effect I'm having on this city. The power of _fear _is one of the greatest psychological weapons on earth and I'm as closer to being a master at it than anyone else I know of. And my possession and mastery of that weapon alone unnerves me at times. Imagine then, how I feel about possessing the power to level mountains, change the course of rivers, of human _history _itself. I already have far too much power for my mission…a little more would be enough to corrupt me completely…and there has been _enough _corruption in this city already."

"Yeah, I think I can understand what you mean, Bruce. We don't just put out fires. We go out to bring the fight to the bad guys. And if we do that with superpowers, then that makes us _too _dangerous…and a lot of people will get scared or maybe even hurt…", Robin said, breaking of suddenly, as he thought once more of his initial reactions on seeing the heroes in the sky, using their powers with spectacular effect to defend Gotham against the Secret Society. Then he imagined seeing those heroes show up at a warehouse somewhere in the East End of Gotham, and rain down their superpowered vengeance upon a pack of unsuspecting thugs. The only result he could see was chaos. Batman was right. _Their _world was different from the world the other heroes inhabited. They didn't have to inspire people or stop alien invasions. They had to find goons and beat the crap out of them to teach them a lesson. And if they did that with superpowers…then that would be going a bit too far…

"I'm glad you learnt this lesson, Tim", Batman said. "It's important for you to understand if you want to stay in this business. Now let's go home". And with that, the Dynamic Duo fired their grappling lines and leapt of the roof, with Robin having finally learnt the valuable lesson that if power corrupts, then superpower corrupts even more…

.


End file.
